TV Review: Dexter 3.5 – Turning Biminese

Dexter, Showtime, Airs Sundays at 9 PM ET/PT

Episode: “Turning Biminese” (Season 3, Episode 5)

Synopsis: While Dexter struggles with how to handle Rita’s desire for them to move in together before they get married, Miguel tells Dexter about a husband who has gotten away with killing two of his wives for financial gain. For Dexter, this seems like the perfect candidate to satisfy his dark urge and his need, like every man under relationship pressures, to get away. Dexter tracks the murderer to Bimini. While on the hunt, Rita has a medical emergency and he is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Debra works with Anton, her confidential informant to track down one of Freebo’s criminal confidants. But Debra finds herself oddly attracted to Anton.

Review: As much as I would love to say that Dexter just keeps getting better and better from week to week, I feel as if that might be doing a disservice to some of the show’s die hard fans — more specifically, to those who crave blood. Over the course of the last few weeks, since Dexter’s opening episode impulse kill of Oscar Prado and his subsequent clean-up kill of Freebo, the show has taken a side step of sorts, focusing less on Dexter’s dark side and more on the emergence of his human side — he’s making friends, taking the next step with Rita and he seems to be on the level with his sister Deb. Combine that with the newly reformed, less abrasive Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee) in this week’s episode and it is enough to have long-time Dexter fans scratching their heads.

But allow me to put it into perspective for all of the non-believers out there. In a world where so many shows have lost focus — and for the purposes of this argument, I am looking at fan favorites such as Entourage, Heroes and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, among others — it is refreshing to see a show that knows what it wants to be. In a sense, I get the feeling that while we may not like it at the moment, the writing team behind Dexter have a clear plan — they are setting us up for all sorts of dark shenanigans later in the season. And in order to get us back to this very dark place, they have to put some fluffy pieces in the road — so that later these fluffy pieces can be eviscerated by the lawnmower that is Dexter’s dark side.

That said, they did give us another delicious taste of Dexter’s dark side in this week’s episode. And watching him savor the kill was definitely worth the wait. Though, as we will come to find out, everything in Dexter’s world has changed. He will now be constantly challenged by the life that he has chosen with Rita (Julie Benz), a life that as you might recall from season one’s opening frames, is the only thing that scares him more than his dark passenger. Season three’s back-half is bound to be full of more push-pull between his dark desires and his grasping for the light — and if I were a betting man, I would be putting my chips on the spot that says that Dexter’s dark passenger is due for a comeback in a big way — big enough to put the relationships that have anchored this entire season at risk.

Then again, that is all speculation. What we do know is that Dexter is going to continue to come running back to Rita, at least for now. We also know that Miguel Prado, played by this season’s welcomed addition Jimmy Smits, has gotten too close for comfort. We would be naive to believe that something bad isn’t going to happen there.

And finally, we know that Michael C. Hall and the rest of the cast are at the top of their game. The only storyline left wanting is Deb’s awkward partnership with Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and her even more awkward relationship with Anton the informant. If it weren’t for Jennifer Carpenter’s ability to almost literally glow on-screen, her character would be completely irrelevant by now. We can only hope that they do something constructive with her soon — or just let her fade to the background while Dexter’s inner struggle with his demons rears its ugly head once again. Either way, I think that fans of all temperaments will be quite pleased.

Up Next Week: Dexter grapples with what to do with his newfound friend, Miguel, who thinks he is clued in to Dexter’s vigilante ways. So Dexter decides to test him to see how far he wants to go. Dexter reveals that he’s always wanted to bring a violent white supremacist who is already in jail, to his brand of ‘justice.’ Thinking this will force Miguel to back away, Dexter is surprised to find that Miguel is not only on board, but he has a daring strategy to complete Dexter’s dark plan. Simultaneously, Rita gets fired from her job, leaving her wondering if she will ever have a real career. Debra is upset when she realizes she may be partially responsible for another mysteriously skinned homicide case she’s trying to solve.

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